Bissell Carpet Sweepers

This post was inspired by my small collection of Bissell memorabilia.  First is my carpet sweeper, the Bissell Grand Rapids, previously featured in my post on Winegar's.  It works really well in picking up cat hair and dirt from the floor and carpets, despite its age.

Next is my kiddie model carpet sweeper.  I wish I had the handle for this, too.

Next is something you don't know how you lived without before you got it.

Here's the box it came in.

And the instructions.

I'm not going to attempt to write a history of the Bissell company, as others have done a fine job of it, such as Kent County GenWeb, and its most famous CEO, Anna Sutherland Bissell, has a comprehensive biography in Wikipedia.

Isn't this a cool picture?  The factory was built on the east side canal to use the water power.  The following was taken from Robert H Baker's, The City of Grand Rapids, Manufacturing Advantages, Commercial Importance, 1889.

The following is from a trade publication of November 1898, The House Furnishing Review.  Take note of the prices of the various models and then compare to what they are selling for today.  I'm glad I bought my Bissell Grand Rapids years ago!

If you want to read more about Bissell's history as a company, their website has a condensed version that's very informative.


Melville's father was Alpheus Bissell.

From the National Cyclopedia of American Biography, Vol 7, from 1897, p 163.

A nice photograph of Melville from Richard Howell.

Interestingly, although Anna Bissell had been running the company for 8 years when this was written, she did not get her own entry in the book.  She did get her own park in her hometown, however.

Dr Charles Shepard: Carpenter, Surveyor, Obstetrician, Mayor

Another early physician in Grand Rapids lived around the corner from Dr Lemuel D Putnam, and had married a sister of his.  This was undoubtedly why Dr Putnam followed him to Grand Rapids, being about 10 years younger.

Picture from the Grand Rapids Public Library Collection.

Baxter's, p 764.

Right in the middle, below, from Henry Hart's 1853 map, is the block where both Dr Shepard and Dr Putnam lived.  Shepard on lots 2 and 3, and Putnam on lot 5.  William Haldane lived on lot 1. The street to the left is Justice (Ottawa) and the one to the right is Greenwich (Ionia).  You can see St Mark's Church on Division  to the left.

The same block in 1888, from the Sanborn Fire Map, below. Greenwich Street, to the right of Ottawa, is now Ionia, and goes through the block to the north.  Dr Putnam's house is gone and replaced by the Shepard Block.  He had moved before 1870, 5 blocks south to the corner of Island (now Weston) and Sheldon.  Dr Shepard is making good money in real estate by this time.  He bought the Gunnison property on the West Side, the subject of an earlier post.

As shown on the map, above, the Pen Club is on the corner of Fountain and Ottawa, and you can see the Shepard house on the left.  From the book "Grand Rapids As It Was", 1888.

On the left is the Shepard house.  Looks like wash day!  From the GRPM Fitch Collection courtesy of Robert Kline.

Shepard house about 1890, from "Old Grand Rapids" by George Everett Fitch, page 20.

Baxter's, p 728.


Baxter's, p 713


Part of a paper written by Harvey J Hollister, and read at the annual meeting of  The Michigan Historical Commission in 1906 had this to say about Dr Shepard: 

"Not one of the older residents will forget the drug firm of Shepard & Putnam. Dr. Shepard was quite an old physician when I came here. He had been a resident of the town some fifteen years, which carried one back to the beginning of things in this then embryo city. I remember an incident that Dr. Shepard related at one of our Old Residents' meetings, when he was president of the association. The meeting was held at the Morton house. He said, "As I was coming through the State from Detroit to Grand Rapids I came upon a tribe of Indians on the Flat river. I could not speak the Indian language at all, but the Indian chief seemed glad to see me and, being an Indian, welcomed me as a physician. I found that the tribe were suffering from smallpox, which had broken out among them. While in Detroit, I had fortified myself with some vaccine matter and, with the consent of the chief, I applied the remedy to the entire tribe who were well or convalescent and remained among them for some little time before continuing my journey to Grand Rapids. When at last I told the chief that I must go on, he put his hand on my shoulder and uttered his thanks in impressive Indian words." 

This was the Doctor's first practice in Michigan. How long he lived in our midst! How sadly was he missed! When seventy-two years of age there was a birthday party given for him, when he seemed to be not over fifty. I think he lived to be about eighty-four years of age."

Following is a very windy obituary from the Cyclopedia of Michigan, p 256.  It was all one paragraph, so I have broken it up to be more readable.

 DR. CHARLES SHEPARD, deceased, Grand Rapids. The history we have of the struggles and trials of those pioneers who were the founders of our great Commonwealth is largely the result of the formation of social organizations having for their object the recording of the personal experiences and attainments'of its early settlers, their abandonment of almost every attribute of civilization to take up a life of unceasing toil, of neverending perseverance and industry, of forgetfulness of self, to share all the burdens and hardships of existence in a wilderness. While noble lessons of courage and faith are taught in the record of the least successful of these, the process of compilation gives to each his proper place, and how invaluable is the inspiration and example of those who, by their unconquerable will, their superior ability of mind and body, their indomitable courage and unfaltering energy, have placed their names above and in front of their fellows, standing out like beacon-lights from the common mass, and handed down to posterity the record of noble deeds, of lives whose purity and unselfish devotion to duty emblazon them for all time high on the roll of honor and of fame! The historian in the larger sphere, whose aim is the history of the whole State from its inception to the present time, is thus enabled to select the most valuable and interesting subjects, and while confined to narrow limits, both as to individuals and space, is at no loss for material. 

The Grand River Valley is a fruitful field, and among the first and best of the many valued names on its scroll of pioneers, whose lives were a victory for themselves and for their State, none stands more highly or commands a greater degree of respect than that which heads this article. That he sprang from a hardy and sterling stock is evident, and those of his ancestors of whom there is any record attained great age. His grandfather, Daniel Shepard, was a native of Connecticut, and died at Chatham (now Portland) in that State, at the age of ninety-seven years. Silas, his son, was born at Chatham, September 2, 1779, and removed to Fairfield, Herkimer County, New York. He died January 19, 1863, in Cattaraugus County, New York. His wife, Anna (White) Shepard, died April 11, 1873, aged ninety-two years, in Portage County, Ohio. Our subject was born July 18, 1812, at Herkimer, New York, and spent a portion of his early youth in his father's workshop, he being a carpenter and joiner. Having no opportunity for obtaining a college education, he was dependent upon the common schools, and such reading as was obtainable in the books at hand, for his education. He early developed a taste for the study of medicine, and having an energetic disposition and a large ambition -he commenced to prepare himself for that profession, at eighteen years of age, in the office of Dr. H. W. Doolittle. Subsequently he attended lectures and graduated, in March, 1835, from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of the Western District of New York, situated at Fairfield. He commenced practice in Jefferson County, and at the end of six months came West, arriving at the then village of Grand Rapids, October 20, 1835. 

He was, with one exception, the first physician to settle at that place, where he announced his intention of remaining permanently. His first professional labor performed in Michigan was the vaccination of one hundred and fifty Indians at Thornapple (now Ada). Grand Rapids was then a hamlet in the midst of the dense pine-forests, which have since disappeared-the Monroe Street of to-day, its principal business thoroughfare, was an Indian trail-and to eke out an existence he added surveying to the practice of medicine. He formed a partnership with Dr. Stephen A. Wilson, who had located in Grand Rapids about two months before him, which continued until the spring of 1839. His work as a physician was rendered doubly arduous by combining surgery with medical practice, and it was. in this field of labor perhaps that he won his great renown. 

His name first became prominently known throughout the State in this branch of the profession in 1837 by some notable surgical operations performed upon the badly frozen crew of a vessel which was wrecked near the mouth of the Muskegon River. For many years he was the only surgeon within a radius of nearly one hundred miles, and the stories of his frequent pilgrimages oil horseback, then the only mode of travel, over this territory, show at once a most unselfish devotion to what he considered to be his duty, the highest regard and sympathy for the sufferings of his fellows, and ofttimes tell a tale of hardihood, adventure, and daring. Many of these, too, show to how small a degree was he influenced by the expectation of a mere money reward, as the necessities of many an occasion called for financial as well as medical aid at his hands, -and it was never withheld or granted stintingly or reluctantly. One undeviating principle governed him in his pioneer practice: if called, he went. It was never a question of compensation with him; the demand meant necessity, and he never failed in prompt response to the call. 

During the winters of 1843, 1860, and 1872, Dr. Shepard visited the medical colleges and hospitals of New York City in order to keep up with every advancement in medicine and surgery. To some extent he made a specialty of obstetrics and diseases of women, and so successful was he in this department that frequently patients were brought to him from various other States, in addition to those attracted by his popularity and ability from his own Michigan, where his name was almost a household word. During his active practice he was called upon to perform almost every species of capital operation, and in general practice stood at the very head of his profession in Western Michigan, as he did in time of service. He possessed one of the finest medical libraries in the State, and a costly microscopical outfit, being greatly interested in that study. In later years he to a large extent relinquished general practice, and devoted himself to office work and consultation. 

Having the unbounded confidence and esteem of his fellow-practitioners, much of his time was taken up in this way. It was his endeavor, if possible, to avoid any public prominence, and while foremost in every public duty, actively interested in every case that touched his great heart or excited his compassion, he sought rather to hide his large charities than to ostentatiously display them, and it was only "in his passing away that his good deeds were unfolded to his neighbors." He was one of the founders of the Union Benevolent Association Hospital, president of its Board of Managers, and chief of the medical staff, and it was through his efforts that physicians of all the different schools secured the privilege of practicing there. He was four times president of the Grand Rapids Medical Society, and a member of the State Medical Association, of which he was the president in 1876, and represented Michigan, as the delegate therefrom, at the International Medical Congress at Philadelphia in 1876. He was also a member of the American Microscopical Society, American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the American Medical Association. 

During 1855 he was mayor of Grand Rapids, and was for two years, 1853-1854, a member of the Board of Aldermen. For a number of years prior to his death, Dr. Shepard was president of the Old Residents' Association, in which lie took a most active interest. "In his religious views he was a follower of the tenets of the New Church (Swedenborgian), and in a day when obloquy awaited the man who professed such doctrines he was the acknowledged leader of that Church in the community, and the first to promote its interests. In spite of almost certain religious, social, and business ostracism, he proved the loyalty of his convictions, and was the first and last president of its Society, as well as a continuous worker in the cause." 

Dr. Shepard was twice married, his first wife being Lucinda A. Putnam, who died April 17, 1873. Their five children had all died at a comparatively early age. July 27, 1876, he married Dorinda N., daughter of Edward and Abbie Sage, formerly of Portland, Connecticut. Mr. Sage died May 3, 1855, and his widow resides with her daughter at Grand Rapids. Mrs. Shepard, who, with their two sons, survived her husband, was born at Portland, March 11, 1839. Their eldest son, Charles, was born October 12, 1878, and Silas Edward was born May 3, 1881. 

A true indication of the character of our subject is found in his reference to his sons in his will. He says: "It is my desire that my sons be thoroughly and liberally educated, and that out of my general estate they have such yearly allowance as their guardians think will best promote their growth in life and tend to ripen them in mind and body into men useful and helpful to others." Dr. Shepard died Wednesday, March 8, 1893, falling quietly and sweetly asleep after an illness of some four months, the result of a general breaking down of the vital forces. 

A fitting tribute to his life and services was paid by the Rev. George N. Smith at the memorial services held on March 19th, from which we quote: "As a citizen, as a physician, and as a father, Dr. Shepard was an ideal man of the times. Two things went to make up his character-an unbending tenacity of principle on one hand, and a spirit of kind forgiveness on the other. He was a man who took a true and lasting interest in the public welfare, and in all offices of trust he fulfilled his duties as a citizen without hope of reward. His business mottoes were always centered around the law of doing justly by his fellow-men. He stood at the head of his fraternity in the respect in which he was held, being esteemed the ideal physician. Phenomenally skillful, successful in dangerous surgery and in general practice, he was remembered gratefully and affectionately in hundreds of homes where but to have had his kindly presence was to have received a benison." 

That he won for himself the highest honors of citizenship in the hearts of his friends and the people of his adopted city was evidenced in the resolutions of respect and regret which were adopted by the Medical and Old Residents' Associations, of which he was a member, as well as in the beautiful tributes paid to his memory by various of his intimate friends. His name will long be remembered gratefully and lovingly and with all reverence and respect by the whole community, and must ever be as a guiding star, an example fit for all men to follow, a standard of upright morality, of all that is best and great and good in our American citizenship. 


Interestingly, only one of his children, his last son, Silas, lived to be more than 30 years of age.

.

Dr Lemuel D Putnam, An Early Grand Rapids Druggist

The presence of a very large and rambling house on the corner of Fountain and Greenwich (later Ionia) drew my attention on the 1853 Henry Hart map of Grand Rapids.  It wasn't there by 1888, when the Shepard Block replaced it.  Sometime before 1870 the family moved to the NE corner of Island (Weston) and Sheldon and sold the property to Dr Charles Shepard, who lived on the west side of the block on two large lots.  His house was still existing on the 1888 map.  In fact, you can see it in the picture above, on the masthead.  The left hand steeple of St Mark's Church goes through it.  Putnam's house is out of the picture on the left.





The preceding obituary is from Michigan Historical Collections, Vol 27, 1897.  The picture, above, is from Bowen's 1900 History of Grand Rapids., page 355, as is the biography, below.

Lemuel D. Putnam, M. D.

Lemuel D. Putnam, M. D., deceased, was a well-known physician and druggist in Grand Rapids, Mich., as far back as 1846. He was born in Herkimer county, N.Y., August 31, 1823, a son of Alfred P. and Sophia (Dickerman) Putnam, the parents of the latter being natives of Brattleboro, Vt.
Lemuel D. Putnam, M.D., was reared to a farmer’s life, but had no liking for the vocation, his tastes leaning toward the study of physiology and correlative sciences. He was afforded good school opportunities, and first attended the common school of his native town, then an academy at Fairfield, Herkimer county, and finally graduated from the Union college in Schenectady, in 1845, and later attended medical lectures in Philadelphia, Pa., and Cleveland, Ohio. After full preparation, literary and professional, he came to Grand Rapids in 1846, and at once entered upon the active practice of medicine, being among the earliest practitioners to locate here. His practice, however, was not confined to the city, but extended through a considerable portion of the surrounding country, yet, after one year of this arduous toil, he discovered that it was too great a strain on his physical endurance, and he was compelled to relinquish it.
Dr. Putnam then formed a partnership with Dr. Charles Shepard, under the firm-name of Shepard & Putnam, and engaged in the drug trade. Dr. Shepard came to Grand Rapids in 1835, and was the first to open a drug store in the then village. This store was a small affair at first, but answered its purpose, and gradually but steadily grew in importance and in its volume of business. In due course of time, Dr. Putnam bought out the interest of Dr. Shepard, and several years afterward formed a partnership with F. J. Wurzburg, formerly his clerk, in the same trade, but in 1857 the building and contents were totally destroyed by fire, yet Dr. Putnam immediately re-established the business in a new building on the south side of Monroe street.
In 1859 there were only five drug stores in Grand Rapids; in 1867 there were nine; in 1875 eighteen; in 1885 thirty-four, and in 1890 five wholesale and fifty-seven retail stores, and this latter number has since been fully maintained. It will thus be seen that Dr. Putnam was among the pioneers in this line, and this he continued following until 1887.
When Dr. Putnam came to Grand Rapids men of his caliber and education were very few and far between, and his advice was sought on many important occasions and his judgment called into exercise in all matters of public weight or moment. Although proverbially kind and benevolent, he was successful as a business man, and at the time of his death, which occurred July 22, 1895, was a director in the City National bank, and was universally recognized as one of the best business men in the city, as well as a man of the strictest integrity, and one faithful to all the obligations of life. In politics he was ever a republican, and fraternally was a member of the Chi Psi society of Union college.
Dr. Putnam was united in marriage, in 1852, with Miss Caroline Willard Williams, a daughter of Dr. Stephen West Williams, of Deerfield, Mass., and this happy union was blessed with one child, Isabel Williams Putnam. Mrs. Putnam is a lady of intelligence and refinement and fit mate for her husband, than whom she never could have found a better. Mrs. Putnam, with her daughter, has visited many interesting parts of the world, including England, France, Germany, Belgium, and even up the Nile, and the mother and daughter now live in elegant ease, at their attractive home, No. 20 Sheldon street, honored by all who know them.

(Frank Wurzburg named his first son Lemual Putnam Wurzburg, after his business partner.)

Dr Putnam is buried in Valley City (Oak Hill) Cemetery in Grand Rapids, Kent, Michigan.

Grand Rapids Herald, 7 May 1898, p 5

Winegar's Furniture Company

I've had this carpet sweeper for a long time.  I use it when I don't feel like lugging the vacuum upstairs to pick up cat hair and litter off the rugs.  It works very well.  It was made by the Bissell Carpet Sweeper Company and sold by Winegar's Furniture Company at the turn of the 20th century..

From a wonderful book called The City of Grand Rapids, Manufacturing Advantages, Commercial Importance. . ., by Robert H Baker, 1889. 

William Winegar

William Winegar, senior member of the Winegar Furniture company, of Grand Rapids, Mich., was born on the first day of January, 1826, in the town of Gaines, county of Orleans, and state of New York. He was the son of John and Susan (Perry) Winegar, and was one of twelve children, four boys and eight girls, ten of whom lived to be men and women, two dying in infancy. The names of his brothers and sisters who lived to be men and women were: John M., Louisa, Catherine, Emeline, Julia, Henry, Samuel, Jeanette and Harriet. They have all passed away with the exception of Julia and Henry.

His earliest remembrance of home is at the age of five years, when he was living in Clarkson, Monroe county, N.Y. He lived there until the year 1835, when his mother died at the age of forty-four years; then they mioved to the town of Farmington, Oakland county, Mich. His father had no brothers, and was a wood carder and clothier in his early days. He died at the age of sixty-eight years in the year 1852, in the town of Fowlerville, Livington county, Mich. His mother was one of twelve chidren, all of whom lived in western New York. The Perry family were agricultural people.

He lived in the town of Farmington, Oakland county, Mich., until the year 1840, when he went to Detroit, Mich., and attended school, working his way through in winter, and farming in summer, continuing in that way until he was about seventeen years of age. He returned to the state of New York in the year 1844, and went to school a part of the summer and taught school the following winter in the log school house where he had learned his "A,B.C’s."

In the latter part of 1844 he went to Rochester, N.Y., with a capital of $3. And started in business, selling Yankee notions, etc.., a business that he followed for about five years, when he went to Elkhart, Ind., where his sister lived. He remained there until July, 1851, when he married Miss Emma E. Smith at Grass Lake, Jackson county, Mich. Of that marriage two children were born: Mary S., who died in 1873, and William S. On the 11^th day of November, 1856, his wife died. On the 23^rd day of March, 1859, he married Miss Mary Emma Bingham, daughter of Dr. David and Mary H. (Smith) Bingham, of Grass Lake, who was born on June 17, 1838, at Whitesboro, N.Y. To this second marriagee, were born four children: Harriet (deceased), Frank Bingham, Alice Frances (widow of Edward W. Tinkham), and Louis Howard, the two latter now living with their parents. The family are members of the Park Congregational church; their politics is republican.

He continued farming and merchandizing in Grass Lake, Mich., until the year 1862, when he enlisted in the Seventeenth Michigan infantry and went to the war. He was appointed second lieutenant, then first lieutenant, then captain, after which he resigned because of physical disability, in the year 1863, at the close of the siege of Knoxville. His commission. was dated June 17, 1862.

He then returned to Grass Lake, Mich., where he engaged in the real estate, lumbering and building business, making sash, doors, blinds, etc., a business that he followed until the year 1871, when he came to Grand Rapids, bringing with him his machinery, and continued in the same business until 1873, when he sold out his manufacturing business, but continued in lumbering and real estate until the year 1882, when he went to manufacturing furniture, and started in the retail business on Canal street, in 1885. In 1887 he built his store on the corner of South Division and Cherry streets, where his business is now located. In 1887 he took his second son, Frank Bingham, into the business.

Frank Bingham Winegar was born in Grass Lake, May 8, 1861, He finished his education in the high school at Grand Rapids. When he was eighteen years of age he engaged in the book business, and continued in same until 1887, when he went into business with his father, as buyer and salesman. In 1893 he was married to Miss Aurilla Pearl. Of this marriage three children have been born: Frances Pearl (Deceased), Mary Bingham and Frederick Perry.

In 1891 William S. Winegar, eldest son, joined the firm of Winegar Furniture company. William S. was born in Grass Lake, Jackson county, Mich., July 27, 1854, where he lived and attended school until nineteen years of age, when he engaged in the lumber business at Chelsea, Washtenaw county, Mich. On account of his heath he had to close up his business and go to Colorado, where he was engaged in mining and lumber. In 1874 he married Miss Margaret G. Swift of Grass Lake. He then engaged in the lumbering and shingle business, which he followed until 1891, when he went into business with his father and brother Frank B., where he now is, and has been the financial and general manager of the Winegar Furniture company. William S. and Margaret G. had six children, two of whom are living: Swift Wells, born in 1882 and now with the Winegar Furniture company, and William Edward, born in 1889.

Louis Howard Winegar was born August 8, 1868, in Grass Lake, Jackson county, Mich. When three years old he came to Grand Rapids where he attended school. When he was seventeen years of age he was engaged in the furniture business, a part of the time with his father, and part of the time in Chicago and Rockford, Ill., and now with the Winegar Furniture company as F.B. Winegar’s assistant.

The business of the Winegar Furniture company has grown from a small beginning to an immense business, occupying a building eighty-two feet front, and 135 feet deep, a portion of which is six stories, besides several large warehouses for storing their immense stock of furniture, carpets, stoves, crockery and all kinds of house-furnishing goods, giving employment to twenty-five people.

The success of the business of the Winegar Furniture company is largely due to the enterprise and thrift of William S. and Frank B. Winegar.

From A W Bowen's History of Grand Rapids and Kent County, 1900.

Just look at this great flow blue advertising plate!

From Robert Kline's site.

Apparently there was a fire in 1927.

Peter Weirich Brewery

A few blocks from my house stand some very old factory-type buildings that are boarded up and abandoned.  These intrigued me, so I looked up their history.

From the 1878 Sanborn Fire Map. 

From the 1888 Sanborn Fire Map.  Bridge Street on the right.

Here is the site in 2011.  The buildings in the back are part of the original brewery.

Photo from Google Street View.  The front street is Bridge, and the cross is Indiana.

The Michigan Brewery, Peter Weirich, proprietor, was built in 1856. He erected two small buildings, in which business was carried on for some time. In 1858 an addition was made to the business, but in 1866 the entire brewery was torn down, and the present one erected. The brewery is 70 x 60 feet, three and half stories high, with a wing 54 x 78 feet. He has in connection five malt floors, an ice house, 70 x 100 feet, and large bottling works in connection. Mr. Weirich owns a farm in Walker township, on which are two ponds, where he freezes all the ice needed in his business. He uses spring water for the manufacture of his beer, and sells about 7,000 barrels annually. His annual trade will exceed $50,000.  From Chapman's History of Kent County, Michigan, p 915.

Ad from the 1883 Polk's Grand Rapids City Directory.

PETER WEIRICH

April 2, 1887, at noon, Peter Weirich, long identified with the brewing and other business interests of the West Side, died at his home on West Bridge street. Mr. Weirich had been sick nearly three months, an attack of pneumonia developing into a quick consumption against which even his  powerful frame and great vitality could make but little resistance. He was born in the village of Todtenorth, near Coblentz, in Prussia, Jan., 18, 1831, and was consequently 56 years of age at the time of his death. The year that he attained his majority he came to America to seek his fortune, with the sole capital of his hands and brains, first going to Milwaukee, but within a year applying for and receiving employment at the brewery of Christopher Kusterer in this city. Within two years (in 1855) he purchased the property where the Michigan brewery now stands and went into business for himself. The next year he married Josephine Arnold, of Austria, who died 12 years ago. Mr. Weirich prospered in business and became identified with the business advancement of the West Side to a considerable extent; he owned several business blocks and was a director in the Fifth National Bank in the organization of 

which he was prominent. The eighth ward elected him to the council for several terms and found him an active and influential representative. In 1875 Mr.  Weirich married as his second wife Mary Peterman, a native of Austria, as was his first wife. She survives him. Of a family of 10 children, but five are now living, a young son, Henry, and four daughters. Two sister of Mr. Weirich, Mrs. Brach and Mrs. Lachman, reside here, and there are two in Germany. He was a Mason and a member of the Turn and Arbeiter Vereins. His acquaintance and associations were extensive, and by them all he was highly esteemed as a business man,  a citizen and a friend. 

Taken from PIONEER SOCIETY OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN, ANNUAL MEETING OF 1887, VOL. XI, SECOND EDITION, MEMORIALS AND RESOLUTIONS OF OLD RESIDENTS' ASSOCIATION OF THE GRAND RIVER VALLEY; pages 85-93.

An inquiry from a friend asking if these buildings became the Petersen Brewing Company prompted another search and turned up a picture of a logo, a bottle, and this picture.  It's obviously the one at the top of the page.  Information on the site says the brewery operated from 1900 to 1918.  In a 1921 city directory they were listed at Petersen Beverage Company, Manufacturers and Bottlers of Purity Malt Syrups and Soft Drinks.

In 1928, the Petersen son is working for a National Beverage Company on Shawmut.  By 1938, according to the city directory, there were still Petersens living at 904 Bridge St, but there is no mention of a beverage company.  I found Petersens living at this address up to 1954, but have not searched past that date.

That isn't entirely true, as this piece from Goss' History of Grand Rapids and Its Industries, 1906, p 1085 says.